Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

09 December  2019

TAMILS & MUSLIMS WON GLOBAL RELATIVES

 Recently, an American of Sri Lankan Tamil origin said to me ‘Your father’s family  is deeply entrenched in to Pillai family - sister married Duraipillai and brothers marrying two sisters’

My response to the above was:

‘              It’s the other way around. My father’s family is the traditional one. A M Pillai Thatha valued his origins with its ancestral heritage. Hence his grandchildren came to Sri Lanka and lived through the heritage A M Pillai Thatha maintained.’

At our Opportunity shop at Vaddukoddai Junction we have shown this ancestral hierarchy – with my father’s parents being at the top. To my mind,  every Sovereign form that has time based hierarchy needs to reflect the true picture at the top. Through the recent Presidential elections in Sri Lanka, the minorities in Sri Lanka demonstrated their root power which connects to the Diaspora. By effectively declaring that he represented Sinhala-Buddhists, the President confirmed yet again the 1977 and the 2015 separations of power in National Parliament where Tamils held the Opposition leadership position. The President promoting two thirds majority would dilute the value of investment in democracy. It would promote autocracy which will no longer be tolerated  by Tamils and Muslims.

Mario Arulthas reports as follows under the heading ‘Trouble brews in post-election Sri Lanka’ published by Al Jazeera:

[Two weeks after the election of hardliner Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka, the prospects for justice and reconciliation between the different communities on the island lie in tatters. The victory of Gota, as he is commonly known, sent shockwaves across the Tamil-dominated northeast - where memories of his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa's brutal presidency, marked by mass atrocities and enforced disappearances, remain fresh. 

Gota, who served as defence minister between 2005 and 2015, stands accused of war crimes committed during Sri Lanka's civil war (1983-2009).

The Tamil community were hoping for a victory of Sajith Premadasa, the leader of the United National Party (UNP), who was seen by Tamils as the "lesser evil". While Premadasa also adopted nationalist rhetoric during his campaign, vowing to protect military chief Shavendra Silva from war crimes accusations and pledging to give prominence to Buddhism, minorities were terrified at the prospect of a return to the brutal authoritarianism of the Rajapaksas.

Tamils and Tamil-speaking Muslims went to the polls in large numbers, with the vast majority of the northeastern vote going to Premadasa. But it was not enough for his victory. His opponent, Gota, swept the Sinhala south, winning the election with a whopping majority.]

There is a well known phrase in Tamil ‘Indru Poi Naalai Vaa’ / ‘Go back today and come tomorrow’. This was said by Rama to the then King of  Lanka Ravana when the latter had lost all his weapons in the battlefront. Ravana did not have king status without his weapons and hence Rama would not fight.  Those were the laws of just war. They were not inherited by the current President whose armed forces were in essence - driven by their desires and/or own primitive rules – as confirmed by Brigadier Fernando in London.   

To my mind, the above interpretation confirms that Tamils & Muslims voted for Democracy which UNP represented much more than SLPP. To uphold Sovereignty -  a just fight has to be between Equals. It is for this reason that the party that gets the second highest votes becomes Equal Opposition in a democratic parliament.  The vote of a person dependent on the government is in reality is a dud vote. It was the investment in Sovereignty by minorities that worked to demote Sinhalese who were pampered by their Apparent Buddhist leaders. When the ‘looks’ of a position is more than the substance of the position – it becomes Apparent. Where the substance is strong but is not recognised through ‘looks’ it becomes Energy of the true investors. It then works the whole and manifests Itself as Equal opposition to the apparent leadership. That is the self-balancing nature of Sovereignty anywhere anytime. 

The maximum level to which militants are capable of rising is determined by their sacrifices of earned benefits. The more we ‘show’ the less we have for sacrificing. Undeserved suffering of civilians in the Sri Lankan ethnic war became such sacrificial power. Since it was caused by the government forces – the real power of the Government was transferred to the community of the victims. This naturally forms partnerships with wider world. Every completed experience of Sovereignty renders us our Natural Self Governance structure. Every human being has the duty to preserve that and protect her/his environment from invasions.

Muslims and Tamils of Sri Lanka are no longer a minority community due to their global relatives who never forget that the roots are in Sri Lanka. Anyone who fails to pay her/his respects to those roots becomes a disconnected ‘foreigner’. A foreigner gives handouts. An owner shares.